Australian rugby league premiers
The Australian rugby league premiers are the winners of the First Grade competition in Australian rugby league, which is currently the National Rugby League.
History
The first season of rugby league in New South Wales was held in 1908 and run by the New South Wales Rugby Football League. The premiership was formed as a breakaway competition from the amateur rugby union competition that existed in the Sydney district at the time, with which players had fallen out of heart with due to increased revenue from the game not being reflected in player allowments. At the end of the 1908 season, South Sydney became the first team to win the premiership.
During the 1980s, the competition began to spread out interstate. Starting from 1995, the competition began to be run by the Australian Rugby League. In 1997, a rival competition created by News Limited known as Super League was formed and run alongside the Australian Rugby League premiership, in which a number of teams defected to. Later that year, an agreement was made between the two parties following massive financial losses to merge into a new competition, known as the National Rugby League. Each of these seasons is considered to represent one continuous line of competition dating back from the first season in 1908.
South Sydney, with 21 titles, have been crowned premiers more times than any other team. They are followed by St. George (15), including a record 11 premierships in a row between 1956 and 1966. The Sydney Roosters, formerly known as Eastern Suburbs, are third with 13 titles. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are yet to win a premiership after 44 seasons - longer than any other club in the history of the game (Parramatta's maiden premiership came in its 35th season in 1981).
List of Premierships
1908-1994 - New South Wales Rugby League
| Season | Grand Final Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location | GF Attendance | Clive Churchill Medal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 11 September 1988 |  Canterbury Bulldogs (6) |
24-12 |  Balmain Tigers |
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney (1) | 40,000 | Paul Dunn |
| 1989 | 24 September 1989 |  Canberra Raiders (1) |
19-14 (aet) | Balmain Tigers |
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney (2) | 40,500 | Bradley Clyde |
| 1990 | 23 September 1990 | Canberra Raiders (2) |
18-14 |  Penrith Panthers |
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney (3) | 41,535 | Ricky Stuart |
| 1991 | 22 September 1991 | Penrith Panthers (1) |
19-12 | Canberra Raiders |
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney (4) | 41,815 | Bradley Clyde |
| 1992 | 27 September 1992 |  Brisbane Broncos (1) |
28-8 |  St. George Dragons |
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney (5) | 41,560 | Allan Langer |
| 1993 | 26 September 1993 | Brisbane Broncos (2) |
14-6 | St. George Dragons |
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney (6) | 42,329 | Brad Mackay |
| 1994 | 25 September 1994 | Canberra Raiders (3) |
36-12 | Canterbury Bulldogs |
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney (7) | 42,234 | David Furner |
1995-1997 - Australian Rugby League
| Season | Grand Final Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location | GF Attendance | Clive Churchill Medal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 24 September 1995 | Canterbury Bulldogs (7) |
17-4 |  Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney (8) | 41,127 | Jim Dymock |
| 1996 | 29 September 1996 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (6) |
20-8 | St. George Dragons |
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney (9) | 40,985 | Geoff Toovey |
| 1997 | 28 September 1997 |  Newcastle Knights (1) |
22-16 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney (10) | 42,482 | Robbie O'Davis |
1997 - Super League
| Season | Grand Final Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location | GF Attendance | Clive Churchill Medal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 20 September 1997 | Brisbane Broncos (3) |
26-8 |  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
ANZ Stadium, Brisbane (1) | 58,912 | - |
1998-present - National Rugby League
The numbers in parentheses indicate the number of premierships won by a team, or the number of Grand Finals held at that venue.
1 The Melbourne Storm were stripped of these titles due to gross long-term salary cap breaches.
Premiership Tally
| Titles | Club | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 1908, 1909, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 2014 |
| 15 | St. George Dragons | 1941, 1949, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1977, 1979 |
| 13 | Eastern Suburbs / Sydney Roosters | 1911, 1912, 1913, 1923, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1940, 1945, 1974, 1975, 2002, 2013 |
| 11 | Balmain Tigers | 1915, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1924, 1939, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1969 |
| 8 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 1938, 1942, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1995, 2004 |
| 8 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 1972, 1973, 1976, 1978, 1987, 1996, 2008, 2011 |
| 6 | Brisbane Broncos | 1992, 1993, 1997(SL), 1998, 2000, 2006 |
| 4 | Parramatta Eels | 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986 |
| 4 | Western Suburbs Magpies | 1930, 1934, 1948, 1952 |
| 3 | Canberra Raiders | 1989, 1990, 1994 |
| 3 | Newtown Jets | 1910, 1933, 1943 |
| 2 | Newcastle Knights | 1997(ARL),2001 |
| 2 | North Sydney Bears | 1921, 1922 |
| 2 | Penrith Panthers | 1991, 2003 |
| 2 | Melbourne Storm | 1999, |
| 1 | Wests Tigers | 2005 |
| 1 | St George-Illawarra Dragons | 2010 |
Notes
- a Balmain failed to turn up for the Final and hence they were declared to have forfeited the match to South Sydney.
- a b The premiers were decided in a Grand Final replay after the first match was drawn.
- a b Bulldogs were known as Canterbury-Bankstown until 1994 and from 1996–1999, and as Sydney Bulldogs in 1995.
- a Sydney Roosters were known as Eastern Suburbs until 1994 and as Sydney City Roosters from 1995-1999.
References
- "Season Summary". Rugby League Tables & Statistics. Retrieved 1 June 2007.
- "Premiership Records". National Rugby League. Archived from the original on 17 May 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2007.